


Day of Love and Sacrifice

by Fire_Bear



Series: Supernatural Crossover Stuff [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural (TV) Fusion, Crushes, Hunters, Love, Minor Violence, Monster of the Week, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-20
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-05-22 06:11:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6068110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hunters Arthur and Alfred are working a case on their first Valentine's Day together. Things get a bit complicated when they realise who they're up against...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day of Love and Sacrifice

**Author's Note:**

> This is meant to be a Valentine's story but I'm almost a week late. =/ It just took a while to get this written. It wasn't meant to be as long but a lot of things ended up happening over the course of their day.
> 
> This is set in the same universe as [this story](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3514274) and [this one](http://archiveofourown.org/works/3977200) but comes before the two of them. It's set in 2012 and happens a few months after Arthur and Alfred first meet. 
> 
> Just to reiterate that they're in the same universe as Sam and Dean - they just don't bump into each other.
> 
> Also, it's set over 24 hours so it opens in the middle of their case and continues till the day ends.
> 
> FYI: I've only seen up to most of season 10 so if anything that turns up here that has already turned up in the show, sorry.

**00:01**

“Hey, Arthur!” exclaimed Alfred.

On the other side of the table, Arthur blinked and looked up from his laptop. He squinted through the dim lighting of the motel room and had to rub at his eyes before he could see Alfred well enough. Though just as tired, Alfred looked bright and cheerful as though he had just drunk his morning coffee. “Did you find something?” Arthur asked, his voice hoarse. He coughed to clear it and reached for his bottle of water.

“Well, no,” Alfred admitted. “But it's Valentine's Day!”

Frowning, Arthur looked at the clock on his laptop and confirmed that, yes, it was the 14 th now. “Oh. That's nice.”

“Ya don't sound very enthusiastic, dude,” Alfred said, rolling his eyes. “Be a bit more excited, yeah? I mean, one more day to cheaper chocolate.” He grinned and Arthur sighed.

“If you concentrated on our case more than on your stomach, we could be somewhere entirely different,” Arthur pointed out. “And I could even leave the motel room for you for a night so you can bring back some pretty girl.”

“ _ Dude _ . Chocolate's far more important.”

“Yeah, yeah. Get on with it.”

“Fine,” Alfred sighed.

Silence fell, except for the tapping of their keyboards and the rustling of papers. Back to work it was.

* * *

**01:34**

“This is ridiculous,” groaned Alfred, flopping across the table. “It's not vampires or werewolves or wendigos, ghouls or ghosts or... or something else! What're we supposed to do?”

“You really can't find that belt anywhere?” asked Arthur, not looking up from his screen.

“Nope. Tried everything short of- Oh.”

“Oh?” Arthur looked up, frowning a little. “I've been staring at this screen for hours and now you say 'oh'? What have you done?”

Sheepishly, Alfred sat up straighter. “I can reverse image search it. It might not come up with anything, though. But... it could work. I'll just transfer it from my phone.” Alfred surged to his feet, winced as his knees cracked and rushed to his bag.

Arthur stared at him, watching him tug out the cable from the pocket of his rucksack. “What have you been doing instead?”

“Looking up the creatures we've come across before with the word 'belt' and seeing if anything pops up,” Alfred said, absently, as he plugged his phone into his laptop.

Sighing, Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. “Honestly...”

They spent a few minutes in silence, Arthur taking a slight break as he waited for Alfred to find something. He didn't have to wait for too long and jolted slightly from his foray into sleep when Alfred cried out in excitement. “It's Aphrodite's girdle!”

For a moment, Arthur's brain sluggishly tried to keep up. Then, when it had parsed the information from his tiredness, Arthur jerked forwards and quickly typed 'Aphrodite wheat grains' into the search engine. Lo and behold, he immediately found a site about the cult of Aphrodite. He skimmed over the information and nodded.

“The wheat grains... They were considered 'aphrodisiacs' and the Greeks offered them to her when they were making sacrifices.”

“Do those sacrifices include killing her followers?” Alfred queried, frowning. “I mean, it wouldn't make sense to kill people who loved. That's what she _wants_ , right?”

“I would presume so...” Arthur agreed, frowning. Then something connected in his brain and he gasped. “Ah! That- Remember the fourth victim?”

“Karen Plummer?”

“Remember that bracelet? It had been scorched for some reason and left over her heart.”

“What about it?”

“Do you think it was, perhaps, a chastity bracelet. Instead of a ring.”

“She's killing virgins?!” Alfred cried, clearly aghast.

“Because they don't contribute to her power.”

“So Aphrodite's around and she's killing people?”

“It would appear so,” Arthur confirmed, smiling at their success.

“Great!” Alfred paused. “Wait... Wait, a _god_ is doing this? They're... real?”

“Yes,” Arthur said, his smile falling as it finally registered what they had uncovered. “It would... It would certainly appear so.”

“Huh.” Alfred frowned as he thought for a moment longer. “So... How do we stop her?”

* * *

 

**01:41**

“Aaiyah! What time do you call this?!”

Grimacing, Arthur pulled his mobile from his ear for a moment before replacing it and sighing. “Sorry, Yao. But this is an emergency.”

“It always is with you hunters,” Yao grumbled.

“Sorry,” Arthur repeated, grimacing at an interested Alfred. “We've got a god situation.”

“A god? Which one?”

“Aphrodite.”

“One of the Greeks, hm?” On the other end of the line, Arthur could hear rustling and presumed Yao had sat up in bed. “What do you need exactly?”

“We were wondering if you knew how to get rid of it? A way to kill it, maybe?”

“Of course I do,” Yao scoffed. “Who do you think I am?”

“A wise and all-knowing man,” Arthur replied as charmingly as he could. He ignored Alfred mouthing the word 'old'. “What do we need?”

“You need a wooden stake, preferably made from wood from their region, even more preferably blessed. Which I just so happen to have in my possession. A moment.” Arthur waited, Alfred watching him intently. Finally, Yao's voice returned. “Yes, I definitely have one here. Olive wood. Where are you?”

“Not too far: Plymouth, Illinois. We're in the Days Inn.”

“Understood,” said Yao, the rustling started up again. “I'll get there as soon as I can. Get some sleep.”

* * *

**02:26**

Arthur was not one bit happy when he heard the insistent knocking on the door. It pulled him from a pleasant, hazy dream he couldn't quite remember. He knew it had been peaceful (there had been no monsters or dying people whatsoever) and it bugged him all the more that he was being woken.

“Fuck off,” he growled into the thin pillow the motel had provided for them. Rolling over, intent on ignoring it, he saw Alfred shifting on the other bed.

“'S'at Yao?” he mumbled.

His brain took a while to agree with Arthur and, by that point, the banging had gotten louder. Grumbling under his breath, he dragged himself from the bed, shuffled to the door, unlocked it and stepped back. As it happened, it was indeed Yao, looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. He was also smirking at Arthur so it looked like the hammering on the door was payback for calling him at one in the morning.

“Good morning, Arthur,” he said as he breezed by. Arthur merely grunted in response. “Good morning, Alfred,” Yao continued as he settled at the table. Alfred's groan was the only answer. “You two are such lovely company today.”

“Where is it?” Arthur demanded, not bothering to say anything else. He was not awake enough for this.

“Here,” Yao answered, patting the large satchel Arthur hadn't noticed when he walked in.

“Great,” said Arthur. After pausing to yawn widely, he added, “Thanks, Yao. Now all we need to do is work out where Aphrodite is hiding...”

“You don't know where she is?” Yao said in disbelief.

“We weren't sure what it was,” Arthur explained, tiredly. “The girls are all from different social circles and they're taken from different locations. It's like she's making a sweep of the town, I suppose, picking off the ones easiest to get to and-”

A snort from Alfred's bed interrupted him and made Arthur jump. Turning, he saw that Alfred had gone still, presumably asleep again. He tried not to feel jealous.

Yao sighed. “The boy seems to need more sleep than is normal for hunters.”

“Yes,” Arthur agreed. “And I can't get rid of him. Believe me, I've tried.”

“You shouldn't have let him join you on that first case of his. He's gotten the taste of it. You'll never get rid of him now.”

“Unless he dies...” Arthur grimaced. “I hope not. He's too young to die from this.”

“Plenty of people that young die from this life,” Yao pointed out.

Taking a breath, Arthur shrugged a shoulder. He immediately yawned, this time having the wherewithal to hold a hand over his mouth. “God, sorry,” he murmured. “We were both awake for around twenty-odd hours.”

Sighing again, Yao shook his head. “Fine. Get to bed. I'll find you your goddess.”

* * *

 

**09:03**

When Arthur next woke, he felt like he'd barely slept. He was going to need a lot of caffeine and he wasn't looking forward to drinking several cups of coffee to be able to function. The taste was absolutely horrid. Groaning, he shifted on the bed and finally crawled off it, standing to face Yao. Rubbing at his eyes and face, he went over to the table where a map of the town had been laid out.

“Good morning,” Yao said, not looking up.

“Yeah,” Arthur croaked. He glanced over at Alfred who was still bundled up under his blanket, dead to the world. “I take it he's not been up since you came in?”

“No. Are you alive yet?”

Arthur shook his head. “I'm going for a shower,” he said, barely getting the words out before he yawned. “I'll be more awake after that.”

He shuffled off to the tiny bathroom and stripped quickly, wanting to get under the water as quickly as possible. Hopping in, he went through the process of washing himself, mind sharpening over time till he began to ponder the case. Where would Aphrodite find her prey? How was she finding these women? And how did she decide which people to pick off when?

Stepping out, he dried himself off and wrapped the towel around his waist. When he emerged, he noted that Yao was in the process of pinning the map to the wall. They ignored each other as Arthur went to find clean clothes – or, failing that, ones that smelled nice enough. When was the last time they had done the laundry?

As he pulled out a shirt and a pair of black jeans, Alfred snorted and shifted. Arthur watched him blink and squint, waking up. “About time,” he grunted, folding his arms. “Come on. We have work to be doing.”

“Wha' time is it?” he slurred, rolling over to grab his glasses. Putting them on, he turned back to Arthur and looked at him expectantly. Clearly, he didn't feel he was up to reading the time off his phone.

With a put upon sigh, Arthur picked up his own. “It's half nine. Get up and stop being a lazy bastard.”

“'M'not being _lazy_ ,” Alfred protested but obediently rose. “I need coffee.”

“I'll go out and get us some,” Arthur replied, pausing to pull on his shirt. “When I get back, we can go over everything.”

* * *

 

**09:54**

Arthur returned with a tray of three hot beverages: two _definitely not_ decaffeinated coffees and a green tea for Yao. The overpowering smell of the coffee had been clinging to Arthur and he was trying his best not to look disgusted as he pushed open the door to the motel. “Here we are,” he said to announce his presence, as if the door unlocking and opening wasn't enough.

He was still very tired.

“Awesome!” Alfred sighed, hurrying over to grab his. Behind him, Yao waited patiently for Arthur to hand over his tea and Arthur had to roll his eyes at the contrast. After taking a sip of his coffee, Alfred became interested in the bag of food he'd returned with. His eyes lit up. “You got food?”

“I did,” Arthur replied. “And, if you settle down for more than a few seconds, I'll give you some.”

“What didja get?”

“Some croissants and some Danish pastries for you.”

“Sweet!”

“I wasn't sure what you would want, Yao, so I got croissants for you, too.”

“Thank you,” Yao said, watching Arthur carefully dole out his loot.

“Right,” Arthur said once they all had something to eat and drink in front of them. “Let's go over this again.”

“It all started on Friday,” Alfred said, ripping at his Danish pastries. “The girls that night were going home from a club and were found in their homes. The others would act odd, leave somewhere like their work or a friend's house or school and then they'd turn up dead in their homes.”

When Yao frowned at them, Arthur elaborated. “The later girls would be red in the face, stare into space, fluster when spoken to...”

“Hm,” said Yao, placing a finger on his chin as he thought about this. “Sounds like... Well, sounds like they were attracted to someone.”

“Attract-? Oh,” Arthur breathed, ignoring his food and coffee. “They were... in love...”

“Really?” asked Alfred around a mouthful of his pastry. When both Arthur and Yao glared at him, he swallowed and said, “But that makes no sense. Why would the goddess of love want to kill people that have fallen in love? Isn't that what, like, feeds her?”

Arthur drummed his fingers on the table. “I don't know. Let's ignore it for now. What else have we got.”

“They're all virgins,” Alfred elaborated.

“Aren't they all?” sighed Yao, shaking his head.

“But why _these_ virgins?” Arthur asked.

“Huh?” was Alfred's intelligent response.

“I mean, there's lots of people in this town, in the world, that are virgins. All of the high school students and younger are virgins so why hasn't she killed anyone in that age bracket. They're all young woman who _could_ have had sex but haven't for whatever reason.” He paused. “So... why haven't they?”

“They probably just didn't want to or hadn't found anyone they liked enough to do it with.”

“That might be the point,” said Yao, slowly. “They _could_ have love in their lives but they're resisting what Aphrodite is putting in front of them in one way or another.”

“But you just said they _were_ in love,” Alfred pointed out, frowning at the older hunters.

“Okay. What else do we know? I mean, what we have for a fact so far is that everyone who's died in this town has been female, virgins and had seemingly found themselves attracted to someone. Yao, that map” - Arthur nodded at it - “what have you found out?”

“As you said, there's no distinctive pattern to them. They're all over the place. Those red pins,” Yao continued, pointing at them, “are the first victims, the ones from Friday night. They're spread out in different parts of town, too.”

Standing, Arthur moved over to it, sipping on his coffee. He grimaced at the taste but ignored his disgust, staring at the map. Then he moved closer and squinted. “Wait. These are where they were found, right?”

“Yes. From the reports you have, the bodies were moved and set up with that girdle somewhere in the room and the wheat grains on their lips.”

“What about where they were last seen?”

Alfred stood now, coming closer. “That one there,” he said, pointing to a particular pin. “That's Julie Clover. Her friends saw her when they split up there” - he traced his finger along to an intersection – “so they could all go home. They all live in different directions. And Sarah Mullins was last seen by a homeless guy over here.” He pointed to another street and ran his finger along until he reached the same intersection. It was clear that the girls' paths would eventually converge if they retraced the girls' steps.

“So what's around here, then?” Arthur asked, tracing his finger around in a circle, covering the intersection and a few blocks in every direction. “And did the other girls go there on Friday, too?”

Hurrying to his laptop, Alfred frantically tapped out a search. Finally, he looked up. “There's a few bars and clubs there but... Well, look at this one.” He turned the machine so they could see the screen and both Arthur and Yao leaned forward.

“Well,” said the older hunter. “That looks like somewhere your goddess will be.”

“Yeah...” Arthur agreed. “Are you sticking around or...?”

“Sorry,” Yao replied. “I have other things to be doing, you know.”

“All right, thanks for your help. Sorry to bother you in the middle of the night. We'll visit after we've finished here.” Arthur patted Yao's arm and left Alfred to hug and escort him out.

* * *

 

**10:38**

Pure Devotion was stood out, even in the morning when the neon lights weren't lit. It probably had something to do with the massive pink hearts decorating it. Cigarette ends and chewing gum littered the pavement outside where people had dropped them whilst leaving the club or loitering. The doors were firmly closed, the black paint chipped a little but the bolt in place. Arthur led Alfred to the alley beside it and headed towards the side door. There, he pounded on the door and waited.

Eventually, the door was opened by a hunched old woman whose hair was thin and hung in white sheets from her skull. She peered up at them. “We're closed,” she told them, her voice croaking.

“We're not here for fun,” Arthur replied in a (gradually improving) American drawl. “Agent Collins.” He flashed his fake FBI badge and gestured to Alfred who had also taken his out. “This is Agent Wilson. We're here about the recent deaths of several young girls in the area. We have reason to believe that you and your colleagues may be able to help us in our inquiries.”

“Oh,” said the old woman. She paused before stepping aside. “My bosses are upstairs, doing the books. Come in.” They stepped inside and waited while she closed and locked the door. “Follow me.”

As they moved through the corridor Alfred gave a content sigh. Arthur glanced at him, brow furrowed. Alfred, who had been looking at him, startled and blushed. “Sorry. It's just... It smells nice in here...”

That caused Arthur more confusion for he was quite sure the only thing it smelled of was stale beer and clinging perfume. To him, it was rather horrible and he would be quite glad to get out of the club altogether. He decided not to insult the woman who could most likely hear them and simply shrugged. “If you say so...”

They continued on and climbed up some stairs to a little landing. There were two doors, both somewhat blocked off by piles of boxes. The woman headed to the one on the left and knocked. It wasn't long before it was answered by a man in a shirt and suit trousers. His tie was loosened and shirt unbuttoned slightly: either he was hot or stressed, Arthur decided. Unless he had company...

“FBI agents to see you, sir,” said the woman. “About those girls. Will I go back to cleaning?” She peered up at Arthur and Alfred again. “I don't clean at night,” she explained.

“Ah, no, of course not,” Arthur reassured her. “You may go back to work.” He turned to the man. “We're Agents Collins and Wilson. We were hoping to speak to whoever worked here on Friday night, Mister...?”

“Striker. James Striker.” The man shook Arthur's hand. “Come on in. Terrible business about those girls... This is my wife, by the way – Philomena.”

Looking up, Arthur found himself almost gaping at the beautiful woman perched on the edge of the desk that had been crammed into the room. She had long, slender, tanned legs and was wearing a green dress to show them off. It also drew attention to her tanned arms and her cleavage and one of the straps had fallen, almost tantalisingly. Her blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders and curled around them, almost protectively. Hazel eyes blinked at them, clearly surprised. Her nose was straight and perfect and her lips were plump and red. Arthur fought not to be utterly mesmerised by her.

The woman was clearly the goddess of love and beauty.

Cautiously, Arthur moved aside so that Alfred could get through the door but he kept his eyes on Philomena. “Good morning, ma'am,” Arthur said, watching her closely.

“Good morning,” she replied, a frown marring her face for a second. “Is this about those girls?”

“Indeed it is. Were you working on Friday night?”

“We were,” James confirmed. “But we didn't see the girls.”

“What about these girls?” Alfred asked, stepping forward and producing pictures of the victims from Saturday through to Monday. He placed them on the desk and spread them out so that both James and Philomena could see.

After looking closely, James pointed at Karen Plummer. “I recognise her. But I'm not sure if she was here on Friday or not. We're a fairly new club, just getting off the ground, but we've become very popular. There's always a large crowd in the club and it's dark and loud: it's impossible to remember every face.”

“I'm sorry,” Philomena piped up. “We can't help you. Most of the time we were in the back, dealing with the behind the scenes problems. We might have missed them.”

“That's fine,” said Alfred. “Still, a list of all the employees working on Friday would be helpful.”

Both of them were eager to help and danced around each other as they grabbed all the necessary files and forms. Finally, a list was printed from the computer and handed to Arthur who gave it a cursory glance. “Thank you. We'll be in touch.” And, still tense, he turned from Philomena.

He and Alfred strode back down the stairs, past the old woman and out into the alley. “What was up with you?” Alfred asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Didn't you see that woman?” Arthur demanded, surprised Alfred hadn't noticed.

“Yeah...? She was kinda creepy. All... hunched and cackly.” Alfred stopped, staring into space and Arthur had to grab his arm and pull him along towards the car.

“No, idiot,” Arthur sighed. “Philomena. Didn't you notice how beautiful she was? It was almost... _unnatural_.” He stressed the last word, raising his eyebrows at Alfred.

“Oh.” Alfred went silent, thinking. “Huh. You think...?”

“Exactly,” Arthur agreed, unlocking the car. “But we can't just go stabbing people. We'll have to be sure the other girls were there on Friday. We should split up and cover more ground that way: you go talk to the employees and I'll talk to the girls' friends.”

* * *

**14:58**

There had been a lot of people for Arthur to talk to; Alfred had less but they were scattered across town and driving between them took almost as much time. Arthur had expected to still be looking for answers when Alfred finished but he had immediately been successful – all of the victims' friends said they had gone to Pure Devotion on the Friday night. Meanwhile, Alfred had called after speaking to a couple of the employees and they remembered Karen and Sarah and Laura. When they had spoken, they had decided to keep going: Alfred would make sure that all the employees were accounted for, thereby confirming Arthur's suspicions; Arthur would try to find who the next intended victim would be.

As he knocked on the door of one Lucy Grahamson, he took a deep breath and readied himself for yet another round of questioning. How FBI agents and detectives did this, Arthur didn't know. He'd already been shouted at, cried on and glared at. It would be nice to see someone cheerful. Then again, that would be rather suspicious.

There was a rattling of a chain being taken off followed by the click of the lock before the door finally opened and a slither of the young woman looked out at him. “Yeah?” she mumbled. From what Arthur could see of her, she was frowning.

“Miss Grahamson?” The woman nodded but otherwise stayed still and silent. Arthur compensated for the chilly response by raising his badge. “Good afternoon. I am Agent Collins. I was hoping to speak to you about-”

“Karen. Yeah. Right. Come on in.”

She opened the door wider and revealed her greasy and messy blonde hair, strands sticking in all directions. It appeared as though she had been asleep before Arthur had arrived: dull, bleary green eyes watched him as he stepped into the house. She wore a baggy, grey hoodie and a pair of pink pyjama trousers, feet bare. It was obvious that she didn't intend to leave any time soon.

Photographs hung on the walls along the wall but Lucy hurriedly led him to the kitchen and he had no chance to look at them properly. He did glimpse smiles and Karen in quite a few. “Would you like anything?” she asked as they entered what must have once been a spotless room. Instead, takeaway boxes and foil dishes littered the worktop. A pile of dirty dishes slumped in the sink. Lucy ignored everything and took a glass from the drainer: Arthur wasn't sure whether she had washed it or not.

Fighting to keep the disgust from his face, Arthur shook his head. “I'm fine, thanks.”

Lucy shrugged and wandered to the fridge. “So. What d'ya wanna know?”

“We have reason to believe that there may be a connection between the recent victims. Do you know if Karen was at Pure Devotion on Friday night?”

“Yeah,” Lucy responded, frowning at him. She poured herself a glass of orange juice and stared at him, waiting.

“Did she mention seeing anything odd? Someone acting strangely? Watching her, perhaps?”

“No. And I didn't see anything, either.”

Arthur paused. “You didn't...? You were there, too?”

“We went there together,” Lucy confirmed, taking a sip of her juice.

“Nothing out of the ordinary at all?”

“Nope. You think someone followed us?”

“It's likely,” Arthur conceded. “I now have to ask you a rather... personal question.”

“Fire away,” Lucy sighed, sounding exhausted.

“Are you a virgin?”

Lucy, who had just taken another sip, spluttered and coughed. “ _Shit_ ,” she managed once she managed to get her breathing under control. When she looked up at Arthur, he could see her fear and confusion. “What kind of a question is that?!”

“We believe that the perpetrator is targeting virgins.”

For a while, there was silence as Lucy took the information in. Then, slowly, she put down her glass. With several tugs, she rolled up her left sleeve and revealed a bracelet, much like Karen Plummer's. “Me and Karen, we made this pact. We wouldn't have sex till we'd gotten our career and stuff sorted. Friends forever and stuff.”

“Ah,” said Arthur, unsure of what else to say. He considered the state of her home and came to the conclusion that she seemed the most likely next target. It looked as though no-one had seen her for days so, if she went missing, it wouldn't be noticed for some time.

“Am I in danger?” Lucy asked, so quietly he almost missed it.

“Perhaps,” Arthur told her. “Let me just call my colleague. Don't worry; I won't be going anywhere.”

* * *

**21:49**

Alfred had finished talking to all the employees and agreed to watch the club for when Philomena left. Arthur would have switched places and done it himself but he was concerned that Alfred would make Lucy's home more of a mess. Instead, he had stayed with her as promised, cleaning room by room. Lucy had been impressed and, after a shower and dressing in clean clothes, she helped out.

Afterwards, she had ordered in pizza and they had eaten, waiting for an update. A film had been put on and Arthur had been surprised to see it was Pride and Prejudice, the version with Colin Firth as Darcy. Apparently, Lucy was a fan of the actor and had almost every film he had been in. When Mr. Collins came on screen, Arthur shifted nervously and hoped Lucy wouldn't point out the name.

“She was my best friend,” Lucy finally said, looking sleepy. “I grew up with her. I don't get why anyone would want to kill her. Why are they going after virgins, anyway? How do they _know_?”

“I'm not sure,” Arthur lied. “We'll find out when we catch them. Don't worry.”

“And what if you don't? I can't go around wondering if someone's about to kill me.” Lucy paused, frowning. “Would they still be trying to kill me if I have sex?”

Thankfully, Arthur was saved from answering by someone calling him. “If you'll excuse me,” he said as he stood. He hurried into the hall and kept an eye on Lucy through the door who went back to staring at the TV in an effort to keep awake. Glancing at the caller ID, he accepted the call and raised it to his ear. “Have you got anything?”

Alfred's voice came through the speaker. “Hey, Artie. It looks like the Strikers are heading home.”

“Both of them?”

“Yup.”

“Odd,” Arthur murmured. “I would have thought Philomena would have left alone.”

“Well, she isn't. Follow her?”

“Yeah. Call me when you find out where they live and I'll come help.”

“What? What about Lucy?” Alfred sounded worried.

“She'll be fine – we'll be getting rid of the danger, won't we?”

* * *

 

**22:09**

Lucy had been left with her neighbour who promised to keep an eye on her instead of heading to bed like they normally would. She didn't seem overly pleased at Arthur leaving but he had smiled sweetly and been let off the hook. Rushing across town, he had parked behind Alfred's car and gotten out, meeting him at the boot.

“Right,” said Arthur. “I'll take the stake and you...” He paused and glanced him over. “Stay back and take a gun. Just in case either of the Strikers decide to attack you. It should slow Aphrodite down but not kill her.”

Alfred pulled a face. “But it'll kill James.”

Arthur paused and gave Alfred a look. “Only if you shoot him in a vital area. Shoot him in the leg or arm.”

Sighing, Alfred nodded though didn't look placated. “Right. Let's just get this over with.”

They crossed the road and made their way to the front door. Once there, Arthur tried the door, slowly twisting the knob. It was unlocked and swung open silently. They glanced at each other and Arthur immediately worried that James Striker was actually in danger. Quickly, they passed through the house, checking room after room. Eventually, upstairs, they heard grunting and moaning and glanced at each other. Arthur thought it sounded like- But no, it couldn't be.

So they sidled up to the door, one of them on each side, and Arthur paused. He locked eyes with Alfred who nodded. Arthur gave him a nod back before kicking open the door. It burst open, banged off the wall and there was a scream. Ignoring the noise, Arthur darted in, stake raised in readiness. There was another scream and, finally, Arthur could see what was going on in the bedroom.

“Oh,” Alfred said behind him, lowering his gun as Philomena and James scrambled for something to cover themselves with.

“What the hell are you doing?!” James shouted.

With a grimace, Arthur quickly hid the stake behind his back. “Ah. Um.”

“Get out!” shrieked Philomena, her face red.

Casting an eye over the scene and the angry couple, Arthur realised he had been mistaken. Aphrodite would be out stalking her next victim not having sex with someone she had charmed into thinking she was married to. And if she wasn't the goddess then who was? _Lucy..._

“Right. Sorry. I was mistaken,” he told them and hurried off, Alfred following.

“Artie? What's going on?”

“Lucy's in danger,” Arthur told him, fishing his phone from his pocket. “Obviously, Philomena isn't Aphrodite – someone else is. Did anyone stand out to you when you were talking to the other employees?”

“No, none of them.”

“Shit. Well...” Arthur called the number Lucy had given him and waited. Eventually, after several rings, it was answered. “Miss Grahamson,” he said. “It's Agent Collins.”

“Oh, hello,” said the voice of Lucy's neighbour. “I was just about to call you. Lucy started acting oddly and then left. She headed to the outskirts of town, as far as I could see. I wasn't sure if I should follow her...?”

Trying not to swear, Arthur pushed open the Strikers' front door and jogged towards the car, Alfred following closely. “Which direction did she go?”

“Hm, towards the chocolate factory, I think. That's the only thing that way.”

“Thank you, ma'am. We'll make sure to pick her up.” With that, he hung up and turned to Alfred. “Lucy's headed towards the factory outside of town – probably been enchanted.”

“Abandoned factory?” Alfred asked over the roof of the car.

Arthur shrugged. “It's a chocolate factory.”

“Chocolate factory? Like... somewhere which would make Valentine chocolate?”

Groaning, Arthur threw an arm into the air in exasperation. “This is not the time to be thinking of-”

“No, I mean, like, wouldn't that be the best place for a goddess of love to hole up? It's basically been making gifts of love for the past few weeks.”

Pausing, Arthur nodded slowly and said, “Yeah. That means we need to go _fast_.”

* * *

 

**22:31**

They found the broken part of the fence easily. Once more, they sneaked into a building, slowly making their way around the side to the door which had been propped open. Arthur once again insisted on going in first. As soon as they stepped through, turning on their torches, Arthur heard Alfred sniffing behind him.

“Stop that,” he hissed. “This is not the time.”

“But it smells _so good_ ,” Alfred sighed.

“Smells off to me. Like something burnt.”

“How can you not smell that chocolate?”

“Seriously,” Arthur said, trying not to sigh, “you have an unhealthy obsession.”

“Says you. And it ain't just the chocolate, Artie. It smells... perfect.”

“Perfect?” Arthur paused in his process moving down the dark corridor. He turned to stare at Alfred, flicking his torch up and down his body. Alfred was standing in a relaxed posture, fond smile on his lips and eyes distant as he gazed into space. “Alfred, are you quite all right?”

“Yeah.”

Biting his lip, Arthur wondered if he should send Alfred back out to the car. However, the last time he had tried that, Alfred had complained so loudly they had ended up both being knocked out and tied up. So he took a deep breath and shrugged. “All right. Come on.”

Again, they moved onwards, reaching a set of double doors. Carefully, Arthur eased one of them open and they squeezed through. A light had been left on and Arthur could see Lucy standing in the middle of the large room. Her back was to them and she was still, waiting. To the left and right were big machines attached to conveyor belts, obstructing the view of the rest of the room. Above were gangways which led to doors and, presumably, offices. No-one else was in sight.

Scanning the room, Arthur saw no movement and nothing suspicious and began to edge forwards. Behind him, Alfred sighed and he nearly jumped. Scowling at his idiot partner's antics, he stopped at the edge of one of the machines and peered around it. An altar had been set up using a smaller machine as a table. To one side was a bowl; the other had Aphrodite's girdle. There was no-one there and, with a glance at Lucy, Arthur decided that it was likely that the goddess hadn't arrived yet.

With a gesture to Alfred to tell him to stay back, Arthur adjusted his grip on the stake and silently made his way across the gap to Lucy. He had barely gotten a few steps when something tinkled to his side and he whirled around, weapon raised high. Not far away, stood the old woman from Pure Devotion. She peered up at him, frowning.

“Ma'am?” Arthur said, a sense of dread flooding through him. What on Earth was she doing here? Just as his brain caught up with events, the woman began to glow until there was a blinding flash. Arthur lifted his hands to cover his eyes a little belatedly and then squinted around, willing his sight to return. Instead, there was a pain at the back of his head, a falling sensation and darkness.

* * *

**23:00**

Arthur woke with a groan, tied to a chair, his arms pulled behind it. It didn't look good and he hadn't even opened his eyes yet. When he did, he knew they were in trouble.

Directly in front of him, gazing at him with a fond smile, stood Alfred.

Surveying him, Arthur saw how relaxed he was and the fact that he no longer held his gun. He didn't seem to be concerned that Lucy was standing right next to him, with the same posture and expression. Lucy, however, was not staring at him and was staring at someone off to Arthur's left. With as little movement as possible, Arthur turned to look.

At the makeshift altar stood a beautiful woman. Her hair was golden and perfectly styled to cascade down her shoulders. The bright white of her dress contrasted with the dark tan on her long limbs. When she turned to look at her three captives, Arthur could see her olive eyes. She was holding the stake and raised an eyebrow at Arthur when she noticed he was awake.

“Welcome back,” she said, her voice like angelic harps. Arthur's heart tugged in heartbreak, knowing she would never be his...

He had to shake his head to clear it and glared at the goddess who put the stake on the altar. “What have you done to them?” he demanded, starting to twist his wrists to begin his escape.

“Oh. Straight to the point. I _like_ you.”

“ _Tell_ me.”

“Nothing too drastic,” Aphrodite replied with a shrug. “Just opened their hearts a little. Made them feel love,” she added as she saw Arthur's eyes widen.

“Why Alfred? I thought you only- No...”

Aphrodite smirked. “Yes.”

“But he-”

“-lied,” Aphrodite finished for him.

Arthur turned back to Alfred, his heart sinking. Not only had he dragged Alfred into this life and from a promising academic career, he had put him in danger when he hadn't experienced everything life had to give him. Then again, maybe he was as happy as Lucy and Karen were for keeping himself for someone special. He turned back to Aphrodite who looked amused.

“You care about him,” Aphrodite said.

“Look, you don't need them. You're looking for people who have never experienced love, right? Well, that's me. Let them go.”

“But you _have_ experienced a type of love: the passion in sex. These two have never experienced that. Though, you are wrong in that I have not taken those in love. Lucy's in love. Lovely Karen was in love, too. But Lucy is in pain now so I may as well take her. Put her out of her misery.

“As for your boy here, I think I'd like to take a man, for once. I usually only get maidens, you see.”

Aphrodite stepped forward, heading for Alfred and Arthur panicked: he hadn't gotten his hands free yet and was unable to stop her except with words. “I don't understand why you're taking them at all. I understand that you want couples to carry on spreading love; you can feed off that. But why the virgins, the ones without love.”

“Because I can feed on a variety of types of love. For the maidens in this town, it was the pining love and the complicated heartbreak which resulted. And this one,” she added, standing in front of Alfred who didn't register her, staring at Arthur instead. “Well, he has a love for _you_.”

Scoffing, Arthur shook his head. “Don't be daft.”

“I'm not 'daft',” Aphrodite hissed, turning on Arthur so suddenly that he jerked backwards in his chair, momentarily distracted from his escape attempts. “It is not the love you are thinking of: it is a different kind. The love of an apprentice for their mentor.”

“And you're using that?” Arthur asked as he tugged at the ropes, shifting his body to conceal his movements.

“Indeed I am. It will be a nice change.” She raised a hand to touch Alfred's cheek.

“Leave him alone!” Arthur snapped, openly struggling. The ropes were loosening. It was only a matter of time...

“Like I said, you care about him. It's rather amusing. Since you tried to kill me, though, I shall let you watch before I kill you.”

Glancing between her and Alfred, Arthur hoped the younger man would do something, anything. But Alfred just stood there, watching him. Thankfully, Aphrodite turned away from them and walked back to the altar. Arthur watched her closely, twisting his wrists again and, with a last pull, he was free. Now all he had to do was get past two bewitched people and a goddess to get to the only weapon which would help.

In the meantime, Aphrodite took hold of the bowl and lifted it, chanting in Ancient Greek. Since she was distracted, Arthur shook the ropes from his wrists and quietly lifted the ropes that were wrapped around his chest. When he stood, he looked at the other two humans: Lucy stared at Aphrodite but Alfred watched him without reacting. Reassured, Arthur began to sidle towards the altar.

After getting rather close, Arthur paused, wondering how he was going to grab the stake. Aphrodite was in the way and, if he passed her, she would likely stop him. He was still debating this when the goddess turned, obviously intending to head towards her sacrifices with the bowl. Arthur froze. She faltered, staring at him. Then, with a growl, she let go of the bowl with one hand and slapped Arthur across the face – he went flying across the room, hitting one of the box-like machines and sliding to the floor. Pain pulsed in his cheek and he was slightly dazed, the room spinning a little till it snapped into clear focus.

Aphrodite was storming towards him, bowl upended and forgotten on the floor, wheat grains everywhere. Lucy stayed still, staring at the altar. Alfred was watching the fight. As quickly as he could, Arthur scrambled to his feet. Aphrodite was gaining ground and, with no way to fight her, Arthur made a quick decision.

He dropped to the floor and rolled under a conveyor belt. Whatever the machine was for, it had several large parts connected to each other by some belts in a circle. Boxes had been left in the middle but, otherwise, he was clear to stand and rush to the other side, intending to get to the outer part of the large room. If he could loop around and grab the stake before she caught him...

Unfortunately, he had barely reached the second belt when he heard a grinding crash from behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see that Aphrodite had smashed her way through the machine, leaving the conveyor belt in two halves. She strode onwards at a steady pace. Frantically, Arthur turned his attention to the other belt and kept running, intent on jumping over it. Just as he pushed himself into the air, something caught his foot and threw him to the ground where he slid backwards towards the broken belt. Aphrodite came towards him as he tried to catch his breath and crawl backwards at the same time.

“How dare you?!” she snarled, her beautiful voice marred. It sounded somewhat like an out of tune string instrument, the bow coaxing screeching sounds. Arthur thought of heartbreak and pain and had to gasp even more as his heart clenched. “How dare you interrupt my sacred ritual?! Do you think you are better than me, than a god?! How arrogant! It seems I will have to get rid of you first.”

Eyes widening, Arthur tried to scramble to his feet but Aphrodite had reached him again. This time, she grabbed him by the neck and raised him high. He dangled, gasping, his fingers fighting for purchase on her strong grip. Then, instead of choking him to death as he had imagined, she threw him towards the conveyor belt he had tried to jump over. He hit it with a dull thud and a pain cut through his chest: he hoped it was just a bruise and not broken ribs. Taking painful breaths, Arthur rolled over and struggled backwards and away from the goddess. He dropped to the floor beyond, arranging himself into a crouch as he landed. Upon trying to stand, he found himself in so much pain his vision blurred. By the time he felt safe enough to move, Aphrodite had closed the distance. She glanced over the conveyor belt and the machines with an obvious expression of disdain. Arthur tried to hobble away but Aphrodite grabbed his arm in her strong grasp. Holding him tight, she smirked: to Arthur, it didn't suit her, like a torn piece of art.

All of a sudden, the conveyor belt began to move. The machines started up, great clanking and thumping echoed around them. Aphrodite began to drag Arthur down the conveyor belt, the hunter stumbling as he tried to keep up, unwilling to let the goddess rip his arm out. When she reached the nearest machine, she turned to Arthur.

“Any last words that I can promptly forget?” she asked.

Arthur honestly couldn't think of anything. He wasn't sure what he could do to salvage the situation. So he stared blankly at her. When she raised an eyebrow, amusement shining in her eyes, Arthur opened his mouth to tell her to get on with it.

Suddenly, she cried out, instantly letting Arthur go. She stumbled backwards as Arthur did the same, trying to keep himself upright. As she turned to look behind her, Arthur could see the blessed stake sticking out of her back. And, when he looked up, Alfred stood there, gaze still distant but a frown now on his face. He glanced at Aphrodite and then looked at Arthur. The frown disappeared and a pleased smile appeared in its place.

Another cry from Aphrodite wrenched Arthur's stunned gaze back to her. Her eyes were wide as she fell to her knees, staring up at Alfred. “Your love-” she managed to say before the stake worked its magic. Her beauty fell away, slowly ageing the goddess to reveal the old cleaner woman. Then she imploded.

As soon as she was dead, Alfred collapsed. Beyond him, Arthur could see that Lucy had passed out as well. The machines stopped. Everything went silent and Arthur welcomed the reprieve as he sat on the motionless conveyor belt and caught his breath, wincing at the pain in his ribs, face and neck. It was lucky he didn't have any broken limbs to deal with as well, he supposed.

He let himself sit there for a few minutes, steadying himself for a while, before he went to check on them.

* * *

**23:49**

Once they had dropped off Lucy with her neighbour, fed said neighbour with a story of Lucy sleepwalking and told her to let the woman know she would be safe from then on, Arthur and Alfred returned to their motel room. Arthur was relieved: he ached all over and wanted a shower before pretty much passing out. Exhaustion made his movements slow and the pain made them jerky and cautious.

Alfred fussed over him. “I am so, so sorry, Artie,” he was saying as they entered the room. The younger hunter locked the door and watched Arthur lower himself onto the bed for a spell. “If I'd told you I was a virgin...”

“It wouldn't have mattered,” Arthur informed him. “No doubt you would have insisted on coming and it would have played out exactly the same.”

“I should take care of ya,” Alfred said, moving to his bag where they kept one of two first aid kits.

“Forget it, lad,” Arthur sighed. He didn't have the patience to endure what Alfred had in store for him. “I'm going for a shower and then I'm sleeping.”

“Oh.” Alfred looked crestfallen, fiddling with the box in his hands. “Well. Okay.”

Feeling bad and still a little worried about his companion, Arthur gave him a small smile. “Listen. Tomorrow we can go find cheap chocolate and then we can do whatever you want, all right? I expect you're feeling out of sorts because of what she did to you but doing something fun will help you forget. And then we can swing by Yao's place and thank him for the stake. What do you think?”

Beaming, Alfred nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Good,” said Arthur and struggled to his feet. Alfred was there instantly, helping him. Once he was upright, Arthur waved him off. “I won't be long.” And he made his painful way to the tiny bathroom.

* * *

**23:53**

He didn't notice the way Alfred's smile fell as the door shut behind him. Nor did Arthur pay witness to the way Alfred's hand lifted to his chest and clutched his shirt, frowning at nothing. Then, shaking his head, Alfred flopped onto his bed, found the remote and turned on the TV to see what sort of trashy shows were on this late at night.

**Author's Note:**

> That little bit at the end with Al wouldn't be there if this wasn't a one-shot. I thought y'all should see that he's developed a bit of a crush on Arthur. (He honestly didn't think of him that way till this case and the bewitchment. By that I mean that he thought of him as his mentor and teacher until he felt more during the spell Aphrodite cast on him. It receded when she died but he can still feel some attraction to him now.)
> 
> Apparently, wheat grains were considered an 'aphrodisiac' in ancient times because they were associated with Aphrodite. The girdle looks like a belt in the pictures I've seen. Also, she didn't actually demand human sacrifices but, y'know. There was a cult, though, and [this is where I got my information](http://www.theoi.com/Cult/AphroditeCult.html).
> 
> Philomena means love, by the way. So it makes sense that Arthur thinks she's Aphrodite.
> 
> I made the stake olive wood because that's what kills Calliope in the actual series.


End file.
